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An ethical dilemma with an offender attempting self-harm

Would you give this offender a meal in attempts to negotiate him off the railing?

You are working as a supervisor of a unit. Your shift has gone smoothly without a hitch thus far. The noon meal concluded and offenders are returning to their cells. You receive an urgent radio call of an offender attempting self-harm in your unit.

When you reach the scene, you observe an offender on the upper tier with one end of a sheet tied around the railing and the other to his neck in a make shift noose. The offender is obviously angry and is shouting about missing his meal and that he is starving. He demands that employees bring him a meal, or he is going to jump from the tier and hang himself. Your unit officers are fairly certain that he more than likely didn’t each lunch.

Would you give this offender a meal in attempts to negotiate him off the railing? Whether you answer yes or no, what factors are you taking in to consideration?

These training scenarios are intended to draw the reader into the discussion and create a repository of differing viewpoints on a single subject. These scenarios are intended for training purposes only. Though the scenarios are drawn from real-world incidents, no one scenario talks about a specific person or place. If you have questions or ideas for a training scenario, email editor@corrections1.com.